Before this short trip here, I never understood why people do a weekend getaway or leave the city they live for just one night. I always wondered - what's the point? I thought, "If you're going to travel, why not spend long enough to get the flavor of the place you're going? What's the point of going for one night?"

I didn't understand back then. I understand now.

When you're very attentive and taking great care of your time, two days/one night can be a lot of relaxation and rejuvenation. I did two hours of work yesterday in the morning before coming to Mui Ne, and an hour at the end of the day. I slept on the five hour bus ride here, I took a short nap while here, and I'll sleep on the bus ride back - so I'm basically getting 21 hours awake here.

Do you realize how long 21 hours can be when you pay attention to your time, nurse it, nourish it, and spend it well? Sitting by the water, swimming in the ocean and pool, having Vietnamese coffee, drinking coconut milk out of a coconut... ah, I feel like I've done so much living while here, much more than 20 hours of living.

I usually work seven days a week, maybe 5 to 10 hours per day. To relax, I exercise, learn, and connect with people I respect. All told, I'm probably putting 80 to 100 hours into what most people would consider productive and focused time.

I'm trying to take just a day or two off every two weeks, and I'm seeing my work improve and go faster. I rejuvenate, relax, heal, I'm filled with good ideas when doing this. When I didn't respect my own time very much, spending one night in a place seemed crazy. Why bother? Now that I'm taking care of and respecting my time, one night in a place is quite a lot. I feel strong and healthy and alive. I'm going to have a light breakfast in an hour, go swimming at sunrise, lift some weights, and then have a have a really big meal. I'm working now, and my work is flowing and I'm in a really fantastic zone where things just flow. This one night getaway thing is starting to make sense to me.

When's the last time you got out of your city for a day? Why not get out for a day sometime in the next week?

My husband and I make sure that we go out every weekend with the kids. At times we go out of town to relax, enjoy and make up with our children. we work more than 8 hours a day, and barely have the time to talk anymore and so we find a one night to two nights getaway the best family bonding at least once a month.

I agree 100%. Going out your zone will let you see new sights, new building, different streets. Your deep mind won't be in automatic pilot, because it would need all of its attention to focus on the new world you are discovering. And all of your soul will be concentrated in looking at all the different pieces of this mosaic. Leaving your usual thoughts alone for a while, letting them flourish by themselves.

Read Next

A couple months ago I was minding my own business, reading a book, about to go to sleep. I give twitter one last check on my phone and see a message from my friend Jenna telling me of a deal to go to Lima, Peru for $380 round trip. I have no particular reason to go to Peru, but I decide to start booking it and make the decision as I go through the steps. The deal is about to go-- it's disappearing from different booking sites one by one. Hey, might as well go, I think. For how long? Well, I can't think of anything off the top of my head in Peru besides Machu Picchu (which I already decided I had to see before I died), so I play it safe and book eight days, figuring that will give me enough time for Machu Picchu and maybe one or two other things.

After booking, I begin to do a little research. The thing to do is the Inca trail, which is a four day hike from the Cusco area to Machu Picchu. You have to go with a tour group, and you have to book far in advance. I booked too late for that. The standard alternative is the Salkantay trek, which is typically a five day trek. It's harder than Inca and has better natural scenery, but no ruins along the way and doesn't lead directly to Machu Picchu like Inca does. I try to find a good tour group going there, but none of the published dates fit into my short window in Peru. Fine, I think, I'll just go solo.

I order a lightweight tent, sleeping bag, and mattress pad, and that's the extent of my planning for over a month. With a week before I leave, I figure I ought to see if I need train or bus tickets. That's when I learn that Cusco is almost 24 hours away from Lima by bus, and that getting to the trail from Cusco takes several hours as well. Long story short, it looks impossible for me to Salkantay. But I've had it in my head for a month now that I'm going to do it, so I don't give up easily. Finally I find a way I can take a bus to Arequipa near the end, and then take a flight from there to Lima just in time to catch my flight. The problem is that this leaves me only about 3 days to do the trek, and less than 24 hours to acclimatize.

A week later, my trip begins. I'm overjoyed when my tent stakes make it through TSA security. Actually getting to the hiking trail is contingent on several fairly unlikely assumptions, the first of which is that the titanium stakes will make it through. The flight to Lima is long, but I somehow manage to get an exit row seat to Panama, and a whole row to myself to Lima. I get the best plane sleep I've ever had.